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In my local area there are a ton of jumpable cliffs, but many of them are closed (to climbers) at certain times of the year, mainly to respect the raptor nesting periods. Usually these bans last around six months, and can get pretty frustrating.

So one might ask themselves: "Why should I care about it? It's probably an illegal jump anyhow, so wtf?" I'm just curious how many jumpers will really respect these bans not based on the fact that it's a restriction put on the cliff by "the man," but rather to respect the wildlife that may be endangered/disturbed due to our intrusion.

Please offer any opinions you have.

pope

PS: this may seem like a no brainer, but I've seen some pretty blatantly disrespectful acts displayed by a lot of BASE jumpers that should know WAY better, (SUCH AS RAKING THE NATURAL FLORA OUT OF THE LZ UNDER A CLIFF IN MOAB!).

Also, maybe this would be a good thread to tell us some of the most blatant instances of placing the importance of a BASE jump ahead of the environment you've witnessed.

We have a great local 10 second+ cliff that lies within a park making it an illegal jump. Now illegal around here is way different than say Yosemite as far as enforcement. This cliff can be jumped in the daylight without too much worry about the man coming down on you and to keep it that way we believe that following the wildlife bans are a good thing.

Luckily this very sensitive Mountain Goat breeding/kidding area is open from mid June until Dec so we only miss a couple of months of jumpable time. I don't give a crap about the man but I do love and respect nature when I am in her playground.

To me, 'leave no trace' means following these kinds of rules. There is a reason for these rules and my jump is never more important than the organisms that inhabit a particular area especially when they are designated endangered or threatened.

Ditto on what Dave said. I'm not keen on arbitrary laws (like the ones that prohibit landing an aircraft -- including a parachute or paraglider -- in Alberta's provincial parks), but I do think basic consideration for the people and things around you is always in order. I don't walk on the black moss (moss?), I don't barge in when the goats are raising little goats, I make sure to respect climbers on the wall below me, and would avoid jumping directly over a climber unless we'd previously arranged that.